Incest: legal in Portugal, illegal in

Germany
Strasbourg upholds decision of German court in meagre judgment that evades
tough questions
Daniel Sokol for the UK Human
Rights blog, part of the Guardian
Legal Network
Monday 16 April 2012 14.41 BST

Photograph: Toby Melville/REUTERS

The European Court of Human Rights (fifth section) has ruled unanimously that
Germany did not violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right
to respect for private and family life) by convicting Patrick Stbing of incest (Stbing v
Germany).
Professor Jonathan Haidt, a well-known social psychologist, presented this scenario as
part of a study:
Julie and Mark, who are brother and sister, are traveling together in France. They
are both on summer vacation from college. One night they are staying alone in a
cabin near the beach. They decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried
making love. At very least it would be a new experience for each of them. Julie was
already taking birth control pills, but Mark uses a condom too, just to be safe. They
both enjoy it, but they decide not to do it again. They keep that night as a special
secret between them, which makes them feel even closer to each other. So what do you
think about this? Was it wrong for them to have sex?
Most people answered with a resounding yes, supporting their "yuck" response with
reasons. Yet Professor Haidt noticed that many respondents ignored elements of the
story. Some invoked the risk of bearing children with general abnormalities despite
mention of two forms of contraception. Others referred to the risk of damaging the
sibling relationship, ignoring the fact that the experience actually improved their
relationship. Others pointed to the impact on others, but overlooked their pact of
secrecy. When one argument was rebutted, people plucked out another. When their
ammunition was exhausted, most people clung to their view that Julie and Mark

committed a grave moral wrong. Haidt calls this state "moral dumbfounding". His
conclusion is that intuitive moral judgments precede the explanations of the rational
brain.
Now consider the recent case of Stbing v Germany. Patrick Stbing was born in 1976
in Leipzig. Three years later, he was removed from his family, placed in a children's
home and then with foster parents. At seven, he was adopted by his foster parents. In
2000, aged 23, he re-established contact with his family and discovered his 16-year-old
sister, SK. In December 2000, their mother died and the relationship between Patrick
and SK intensified. The following month, they had consensual sex. Over the next five
years, they had four children, after which Patrick underwent a vasectomy. The youngest
daughter now lives with SK, but the other children are with foster families.
The German Criminal Code (section 173) prohibits sexual intercourse between
consanguine siblings. It is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment or a fine.
Consensual sex between siblings is a criminal offence in the majority of states of the
Council of Europe, including the UK.
In April 2002, Patrick was convicted of 16 counts of incest. He received a suspended
sentence and was put on probation. He was again convicted of incest in April 2004 and
November 2005, on each occasion receiving a custodial sentence. Although charged, SK
did not receive a sentence. The District Court ruled that she suffered from a personality
disorder and mild learning difficulties.
In January 2007, the Dresden Court of Appeal rejected Patrick's appeal. The following
month, he lodged a constitutional complaint, arguing that section 173 of the German
Criminal Code violated his right to sexual self-determination, discriminated against
him, was disproportionate, and interfered with the relationship between parents and
children born out of incestuous relationships.
On 26 February 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court Germany's equivalent to the
US supreme court rejected Patrick's complaint by seven votes to one. The Court ruled
that the ban was justified on the grounds of public health, self-determination and the
protection of the family and society. Patrick started his prison sentence on 4 June 2008
and was released on probation a year later. He went to the European Court of Human
Rights, alleging that his criminal conviction violated Article 8 of the convention (right
to respect for his private and family life).
The applicant's case

Patrick argued that the conviction breached his Article 8 rights by affecting his ability
to raise his children and interfering with his sexual life. There was no pressing social
need to justify the conviction. Incestuous relationships did not spread genetic diseases
in society and, moreover, other people with a higher risk of transferring genetic defects,
such as older and disabled persons, were allowed to procreate. The criminal ban,
plagued by inconsistencies, did not protect the family unit. Why ban sexual intercourse
between siblings but permit other forms of sexual contact? Why exempt step-children
or adoptive children from criminal liability?
In Patrick's case, the siblings had not grown up together. The normal sexual inhibitions
had not developed. The sex was consensual. No one was harmed by the incest. In fact,
the conviction destroyed a new family unit. Unlike incest between mother and son, or
father and daughter, there were no overlapping family roles. A prospective child would
have a clear mother and father. Finally, the protection of morals was not a sufficient
reason to justify the criminal conviction.
The government's case
In response, the German government admitted that the conviction interfered with
Patrick's Article 8 rights, but argued that, since the interference was necessary in a
democratic society to prevent disorder and protect morals, it was a restriction justified
by Article 8(2). The European Court should grant member states a broad 'margin of
appreciation' a certain latitude in the observance of convention rights on this
morally delicate issue.
The ban, argued the German government, served to protect the family structure and
hence society as a whole. As incestuous relationships often involve an imbalance of
power between the parties (in the instant case, Patrick was seven years older than his
16-year-old sister, who suffered from a personality disorder and learning difficulties),
the ban also protects the weaker partner. The risk of genetic damage to offspring adds
another justification for imposing criminal liability. Finally, the ban reflects societal
convictions on the immorality of incest. As for the penalties for incest, the German
courts had a range of options available, including the possibility of dispensing with
prosecution altogether.
The European Court's assessment
The Court agreed that the conviction interfered with Patrick's private life. It also noted
that, since the ban is aimed at the protection of morals and the rights of others, it
pursued a 'legitimate aim' within the meaning of Article 8(2). The key question was

whether the conviction satisfied another requirement of Article 8(2): the interference
must be necessary in a democratic society.
The Court laid out a number of principles about the margin of appreciation, reviewed
the laws of other member states on incest, and concluded that "the domestic authorities
enjoy a wide margin of appreciation in determining how to confront incestuous
relationship between consenting adults, notwithstanding the fact that this decision
concerns an intimate aspect of an individual's private life." [61].
Reflecting on the deliberation and conclusions of the Federal Constitutional Court, the
European Court held that the Federal Court's decision was reasonable. Patrick's
conviction corresponded to a pressing social need. Germany's domestic courts did not
stray beyond the wide margin of appreciation, and there was no breach of Article 8.
Comment
The European Court's reasoning is meagre. It avoids a careful analysis of each
individual argument and counter-argument. The dissenting judgment by Judge
Hassemer in the Federal Constitutional Court contained a number of thoughtprovoking observations such as the law's prohibition of sexual intercourse but not
other sexual acts that are also potentially damaging to family structures and society
that were side-stepped by the European Court.
Instead, the Court reaffirmed the principle that, in sensitive matters of morality where
no consensus exists within member states, the margin of appreciation will be broad.
Individual states are better placed than the European Court to evaluate the moral
convictions of the people and the manner in which these convictions should be
translated into domestic law, if at all. Germany, like the UK and many other European
countries, prohibits incest between adult siblings. In other countries, such as Portugal
and Serbia, incest has been decriminalised. However, such is the Court's reliance on the
margin of appreciation that Lord Lester's concerns that the concept has become as
"slippery and elusive as an eel" and a "substitute for a coherent legal analysis of the
issues at stake" spring to mind.
A detailed exploration of incest would raise profound questions about ethics (what
exactly have Julie and Mark done wrong?), moral psychology (what is the relationship
between intuition, emotion, and reason?), and the aims of law in general (is it the law's
business to meddle in matters of private morality?). Taking cover behind the 'margin of
appreciation' and the variability of European approaches to the issue of incest, the
European Court chose not to meddle with the conclusions of the Federal Constitutional

Court. This is an understandable approach, but one that will leave the philosophically
minded unfulfilled and, more importantly, will provide scant comfort to Patrick
Stbing.
Disponvel em: <http://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/apr/16/incest-legalityethics>. Acesso em: 20 out. 2015.